Cast Away: Part 1
by jbduenweg
Summary: Lord Cutler Beckett survived his attempt of suicide upon the Endeavor, only to be stranded 10 years on an uninhibited island with a very unusual friend.
1. Chapter 1

**CAST AWAY: Part 1**

The Caribbean sun shone brightly upon the white sands of the small island, which Jack Sparrow and Elizabeth Swann were marooned on a few years ago.

As the turquoise waters of the sea washed over the glimmering sands of the island, a shining Pieces of Eight was left behind when the water pulled away. A moment later, the water came again to wash it either away, or further onto the beach, a white hand snaked out and landed upon the coin, digging his fingers into the sand as he clutched onto the coin in a tight fist.

The man which the hand and coin belonged to, lifted his head from the water to see if he had really grasped the coin. Recognizably, this man was Lord Cutler Beckett. His wig was a drenched, lopsided disaster, which pitifully slid from his head and plopped onto the wet sand.

He struggled to move, but his legs were completely wrapped with his EITC flag, which he had landed on when the _Endeavor_ was blasted to bits when he made his best effort of suicide. Unfortunately, he survived...barely.

Groaning as he rolled over and sat up, he attempted to unwrap himself from his infamous flag, and toss it aside. After another moment of catching his breath, he struggled to his feet, scooped up his destroyed wig, and slowly trudged towards a group of palm trees, which appeared like a welcoming shade from the scorching sun.

---

**Four Hours Later:**

Cutler sat cross-legged beneath a palm tree, picking bits of dirt and such from his wig. He had stripped off his coat, waistcoat, and boots during his first hours on that island, and managed to endure the taste of salt water, since his thirst was getting the best of him. Feeling slightly better, he settled beneath a tree to repair his wig in order to ease his oncoming boredom.

"Disgusting!" he spat angrily. "Bloody pirates! Damn Davy Jones! Damn Jack Sparrow! Damn everything!"

As he muttered his plans of revenge to himself, he made do to use his fingers as a comb for his wig, and bits of stick to pin the curls back in place.

"When I find him," he muttered. "I will kill him, and I will deliver the most excruciating pain he would ever endure! Jack Sparrow will pay for everything he has done to me. He will never forget the day I will capture him. He will suffer like no being has ever suffered- _OW_!" Apparently, while he was speaking, the wind had picked up, and some of the coconuts from the palm tree he sat beneath broke loose. Cutler rubbed the sore goose egg on his head as he looked around with an infuriated look upon his face. His eyes rested on his assaulter - a big, hairy, oval-shaped coconut, laying in the sand a few feet away from him.

Angrily, Cutler jumped to his feet. "How _dare_ you attack _me_!" he screamed, marching up to the coconut, and landing the strongest kick he could muster upon it, sending it another few feet away from him. Alas, he wore only his stockings when he did kick the coconut, and he hollered out in pain as he hopped about, clutching onto his injured foot. "You bastard!"

He stomped towards that coconut again, not allowing his fury to die down until he was satisfied. "Now you _will_ regret the day you've attacked me _twice_!" He grabbed up the coconut, and began to furiously pull the hairy shell from the nut. "Take _that_, and_ that_, and _that_..."

Cutler was taken by surprise to find another, smaller, rounder nut within its hairy, oval shell. He decided to forget his anger, and he turned the nut over and over in his hands, examining every inch of it. He stopped upon noticing the three little holes on the side.

The holes looked more like two eyes and a mouth to him. An amused smile curled slightly one side of his face.

"It looks like we've had a rather rough meeting here, hasn't it?" Cutler quietly and calmly spoke to the coconut. "I apologize."

With that, he tucked his new friend under his arm, and headed back to his group of palm trees to resume the repair of his wig.


	2. Chapter 2

**CAST AWAY: Part 1**

Biting his bottom lip in hesitation, his stomach painfully grumbling from hunger, his mouth and throat dry and pasty from the lack of water - or anything to quench his thirst, Cutler Beckett has decided to find some sort of way to get food, and any drinkable liquid other than sea water.

He studied the ocean from where he stood, his new friend - the coconut, held against his side.

"I don't know if I could do this..." he admitted. "There's an entire ocean out there in front of me...and I can't seem to be able to survive all alone on this island." He sighed unhappily. "I suppose I should give it a try..." He set his coconut down in the sand beside him, twisting it so that it stood upright. "Wait here." he told it.

Then he faced the ocean once again. He slowly stepped towards the foaming waves until he felt dampness on his feet...then up to his ankles...then up to his knees...then his waist.

Cutler realized that this would be no use after wandering further and further away from his island, the water getting higher and higher, he finally turned around and began to wade back, when he walked right into a small patch of kelp, and the leaves began to wrap around his legs as he tried to move through it. Growling with frustration, he bent down into the water, and tried to pull the leaves away from his legs. They were a tangled mess, so Cutler had to bob up a few times for air before resuming his tiresome activity.

Finally, he waded up to the beach, with bits of kelp still afoul around his ankles, dragging them through the white sands behind him. He spotted the coconut waiting patiently for him a few feet away. Smiling to himself, he trudged up next to it, and sat down.

"It appears we're doomed," he finally sighed out. "I can't fish, I can hardly swim, and I'm always in a bloody mess!" He finished with a shout, tearing the kelp leaves from his ankles. They came off easily, and Cutler stopped to examine the last piece he pulled from his big toe. He smelled it. He took a small bite...then he took another after shrugging with approval. Then he popped the whole thing into his mouth and chewed away.

"I've forgotten seaweed was edible," he said to the coconut. "But it should be cooked. How do I go about making a fire?"

The coconut, obviously, didn't answer his question.

---

His hands stung from rolling the stick back and forth, back and forth, back and forth between his hands. One end of it was in the center of a small handful of dry grass a sticks, and the other end, Cutler was rolling it back and forth as fast as he could to make a fire for at least an hour. He let the stick drop as he hesitantly examined his palms. They were red and raw, of course.

_Of course! My hands have never been in this state ever! _Angrily, he picked up the stick, and kept trying, ignoring the pain altogether. The coconut sat by him, watching him work. Cutler scowled at it as he worked.

"What the bloody hell are you looking at?" he snarled. "If you had hands, I'd make _you_ do this!"

Just then, a smoky film began to rise from the grass. Cutler gasped and stopped. The smoke began to grow, and a faint sign of a little orange flame began to appear.

"_I did it!_" he happily shrieked. "I did it! I did it! I've made a fire! We're not going to starve to death after all!" He scooped up his coconut, stood and danced about, singing; "I've made a fire! I've made a fire! Who made the fire? Cutler made the fire!"

Then he suddenly stopped dancing, and peered at his coconut's 'face'. "Are you female? If you were I'd happy...then again...it wouldn't be right to be romantically involved with a coconut in the first place. If you were an oyster, it wouldn't matter, though. You should be male. Yes, you should. But I must give you a proper name..." he trailed off in thought. "How about 'Eddie'? Do you like it?"

Just a stare from 'Eddie' was all he got.

"I'll take that as a 'yes'." Cutler grinned smugly. "Eddie."

Then he set Eddie down in his proper place where he was before. "Wait here Eddie. I must go fetch some seaweed to cook for us." He walked off, when he stopped at a second thought. "We? I meant 'me'. You can't eat at all, unfortunately." Then he continued off towards the sea, humming a happy tune to himself.

---

Two Hours Later...

Cutler sighed and leaned back against the palm tree, his stomach satisfactorily full from his seaweed meal.

"I am so terribly thirsty," he stated after a moment of resting. "I wish there was something other than seawater to drink..." he squinted up at the coconuts in the tree above him. "Coconut milk!" He sprang to his feet, and attempted to climb the tree. Instead, he fell down into the sand with a _thump!_

"Damn!" he muttered. Then he spotted his boots a few feet away, beneath another palm tree, next to his reconstructed wig. Cutler was on his feet once again, and walked over to his boots and picked them up. They felt heavyish, so he turned them upside down and out came at least a cupful of sand each.

"Odd," he sighed as he wriggled his feet inside them, before heading back to the palm tree. He slowly inched his way up the rough tree until he was no less then just out of arm's reach of the bear-sized coconuts. He swatted at them, barely brushing his fingers against their hairy shell.

"Drop you bloody, ugly brown lump of whatnot!" he growled. Then he planted his foot further up the tree, and pushed, causing the tree shake, and the whole bundle of coconuts went crashing down below him. Cutler sighed. "Well, at least you stayed out of the way, Eddie!" he called down. Then he muttered to himself. "Now how do I get down from here?"

It took about forty-five minutes for Cutler to get down from the palm tree, so that wasn't so bad. When he reached the ground, he picked up the largest coconut, and analyzed it. "Would you care if I ate one of your cousins, here?" he asked Eddie.

Just a blank 'stare' from Eddie as usual.

Cutler sighed and nodded. "I've never really cared for any of my cousins, either."


	3. Chapter 3

**Cast Away Part 1: **A Message from the Author...

**Anything written in**_ italics_**, in answer to any of Cutler's comments or questions will be what 'Eddie' is -saying- or -thinking- according to Cutler's mind. This note is just in case you're confused. Coconuts can't talk, and neither can 'Eddie'. **

**Thank for reading!!**

**Cast Away Part 1: **Continued...

Three days of coconut milk, coconut meat, and cooked seaweed was enough for Cutler Beckett. He needed something else to add to his very limited diet. He noticed many small fish swimming quite near to shore, but he hadn't any idea how to catch them. Once, he removed his shirt, and tied it so that it somewhat resembled some sort of a makeshift net, and dropped it into the water. Of course, the fish disappeared at the sight of it.

Sighing with deep, dark depression, Cutler held Eddie against his chest, and began to walk the beach...

**Two Hours Later...**

He stopped stalk still. Was there someone else on this island besides him and Eddie? He crouched low and studied the tracks of bare human feet in the sand, which were facing away from him. After a moment, he straightened up, only to be taken by surprise again - he was back at 'home'!

Glancing in shock back down at the footprints again, he realized that those were _his_ footprints!

"I've just walked around an entire piece of land in two hours?" Cutler gasped in amused shock.

_It appears you have, friend. It's not all that big, is it?_

"Not at all," he answered. Then he sighed. He knew he was going mad, actually hearing or believing he was hearing the answers from Eddie. "So, now what do we do?"

_Walk around it again. It's good for you._

"No, I will _not_ march around this blasted spit of land again!" Cutler argued, glaring down at Eddie. "If you think it's good for someone, why don't _you_ walk around it twice?"

_Sorry, I can't walk **anywhere** - I haven't any legs._

Groaning in annoyance, he headed off into the group of palm trees. He ambled about slowly through the tall grasses - when - _Thump!_ His foot landed on something hollow beneath the sand. He stopped and peered down at the ground, and stamped his foot a few more times. _Thump! Thump! Thump!_

_Well, lookie there, Cutler! You've found buried treasure! I wonder how'd you make use of it?_

"Oh, shut up!" he grumbled back, digging at the sand until it uncovered a large wooden hatch door. He dug around a bit more to find the handle. His fingers hit a piece of looped rope, and he grabbed hold of it and pulled with all of his strength. The great wooden door rose into the air, and landed open, revealing a dark, gloomy hole below.

"Strange..." he ignored the spookiness of the hole, and climbed right down into it. Inside smelled of sand, seawater, wood, and..._rum_? He groped around, until he felt something which felt like dusty glass. His fingers closed around it, which he immediately acknowledged as a bottle of rum. He picked it up carefully, and weighed it in his hand. Completely full.

Sighing with satisfaction of the wonderful replacement of coconut milk, Cutler tucked the bottle of rum under his arm, and climbed out of the hole.

---

The stars twinkled brightly above, in concordance with the huge, blazing bonfire Cutler managed to build along with his stupid drunkenness. Staggering about on the sand, swilling down his third bottle of rum, he found himself quite happy and content on this little island with Eddie, who was comfortably nestled a few feet away from the bonfire.

"You know, Eddie," he sighed, gazing up at the bright stars above him. "I've taken the beauty of nature for granted." He plopped down on his EICo. flag, that was laid out like a blanket, and continued to gaze up at the stars. He sighed deeply as he reminisced something similarly as beautiful as the stars above him.

"This kind of reminds me of Miss Swann," he began to ramble to Eddie. "Or Miss Turner, now, actually. I wish, now, that I haven't been such a straight-laced fool, and taken advantage of our night alone in my office. She was so..." he licked his lips lustfully. "...deliciously appealing. She was still deliciously appealing the last time I saw her, as well."

He heaved another dreamy sigh as he rolled his head over to look at Eddie. "Your mouth would water when you see her."

_Seems to me that you'd rather eat her than bed her._

"You are a miserable companion." Cutler grumbled. Then he rolled over, putting his back towards Eddie. "Good-night, Eddie."

_Good-night Cutler Cannibal._

"Oh, shut it!"


	4. Chapter 4

**CAST AWAY - Part 1:**

Cutler awoke with a throbbing headache, and the sounds of the sea roaring a few feet away from him felt like in was inside his head. Groaning, he sat up and rubbed his temples. Then he looked around for Eddie. The faithful coconut sat a few feet away from him, closer to land than he was.

_Good morning, Cutler. How's your hangover?_

"Doing wonderfully, Eddie," he grumbled back, suddenly angered by Eddie's wily remark. "How would you like to go for a swim?"

_What?...hey, what are you-AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!_

Eddie went sailing through the air out over the ocean, and landed as a wave swelled and swallowed him up. Cutler just stood there with guilt swelling up in him, seeing if Eddie would pop up after some time, or wash back up on shore. Tears welled up in his eyes after several long minutes passed, and there was no sign of Eddie at all.

"Oh no!" he wailed. "What have I done? What have I done? I lost my temper, and threw away my only friend!" Guilt and regret plagued him for the moment, as he continued to scan the ocean through blurry eyes. Just then, a small brown bump appeared far beyond the great waves that were breaking against the shore. He knew he wouldn't be able to make it, but he could manage. He _had_ to save his friend!

Quickly, Cutler pulled off his shirt, his stockings, and his breeches, and left them in a heap in the sand as he ran out into the ocean in his birthday suit, waving his arms wildly. "Eddie! Eddie! Keep your head above the water! I'm coming, Eddie!"

He dove into the water once it was above his waist, and began to swim towards Eddie. Cutler realized that swimming was not among one of many great talents. He kicked wildly, and pulled the water with all his strength with his arms. The sea water stung his eyes with each pull and kick he made, and his lungs felt as if they were going to burst. Cutler scrambled to the surface, and gasped greedily for air. He glanced frantically about for Eddie, only to find him behind him, even further out in the ocean.

Cutler began to swim towards him in the sloppiest manner, but he was going fast, nonetheless. Inching closer and closer, he found himself getting a little exhausted from all the swimming, but he had to press forward to save Eddie.

Finally, he caught up with Eddie, and found him 'face' down in the water. Cutler wrapped his arm around him, and pulled him close.

"Eddie!" he cried. "Eddie! Speak to me!" Feeling abandoned and alone, Cutler wanted to cry. But he knew that he might have a chance to revive him once he reached shore again.

---

Three cramps, and four rests later, Cutler arrived back 'home', feeling totally drained of any kind of strength or energy. He drug himself across the beach, right past his heap of clothes, and collapsed next to his makeshift tent, which was fashioned out of his tattered and faded 'EICo.' flag.

He turned Eddie's 'face' towards him, and shook him as hard as he could. The milk inside the coconut sloshed around a bit as he shook it, but there was no sign of recovery.

"Eddie?" he whispered, staring at the coconut intently.

_AAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH! MY EYES! MY EYES! CUTLER BECKETT, DAMN YOU!!_

"YOU'RE ALIVE!" Cutler laughed, hugging Eddie close to him. "Thank God! I've thought I've lost you!"

_MY EYES!! MY POOR VIRGIN EYES!!_

"What in heaven's name are you talking about?" Cutler wondered,...until he glanced down at himself, and then he knew perfectly well what Eddie was fussing about the minute out of his 'coma'.

"Wait here, " he said. "I've left my clothes on the beach when I tried to save you."

_You DID save me, you idiot!_

But Cutler was already gone, heading out towards the edge of the island for his clothes.

---

Cutler ran his hand across his chin as he tried his best to remember what day it was. How many days _was _he here? The long, scratchy whiskers rubbed against his hand as he thought. Has it been nearly a week? How long had it taken him to arrive this island from the _Endeavor_?

_You're thinking so much today, it's giving me a headache._

"But, what day _is _it, Eddie?" Cutler argued. "I can't keep track, anymore! I need to shave, I need to bathe in something other than dirty sea water, I need a fresh change of clothes, I need-"

_Fresh change of clothes? I didn't seem to mind what you were wearing when you saved me, yesterday._

"I didn't want to _lose_ those clothes," he answered. "They're the only ones I have, no counting my coat, wig, boots and hat!"

_What about that fancy-looking stick that's holding your house up?_

"That is my cane," he snapped back. "Don't ever call that a _stick_!"

_It looks like a stick to me! Doesn't it? What use is it?_

He thought for a moment about Eddie's input on his cane. Eddie was right. It _was_ useless.

"Who cares? I like it. Every proper gentleman carries a cane, you know!" he kept on arguing.

_The only gentleman here, is you. I can't be a gentleman if I tried._

"Good point," he retorted, embarrassed that he had forgotten that Eddie was a coconut. They sat in silence for a while, contemplating the ocean, and the light, refreshing breeze wafting through the 'camp'.

"Well, I'm famished," Cutler stated, breaking the peaceful silence, and getting onto his feet with a grunt. "I'm going to try and catch fish, again."

_Good luck!_

Cutler stopped, and turned around, glaring at the sharp-tongued coconut. "Would you like to go for another swim?

"I didn't think so." Then he turned back around, and marched towards the beach.


	5. Chapter 5

**Happy 2008 everybody!!!**

**CAST AWAY - Part 1:**

He was going mad.

He knew he was going mad.

He wanted to die.

He wanted to survive.

He wanted revenge.

He wanted inner peace.

_Blast it! Blast it! Blast it! I don't know what I want anymore! How I wished I had Jack's compass right now... _Cutler kicked the sand with his bare foot as he stomped around the borders of the island, which he's circled the fifth time so far. Eddie was safely tucked beneath his arm, just in case he needed the odd company of the sarcastic coconut.

_Calm yourself down, man! You're giving me a bloody headache!_

"Shut it, Eddie," Cutler snapped back. "You don't realize what it's like to be stranded on an island for weeks! You haven't even the faintest idea, and of course, you haven't any brains, therefore, WHY THE BLOODY HELL ARE YOU EVEN COMPLAINING ABOUT A BLASTED HEADACHE IN THE FIRST PLACE?!"

_My, my, my! You **are **going mad! The only thing I really don't care for, is that shrill voice of yours when you're shouting. And I do have a headache, so don't beg to differ! Besides - you have that ten-_

"I said, SHUT UP!" Cutler threw Eddie down on the sand, and continued walking. Poor Eddie was laying upside down, yet facing towards Cutler.

_Cutler! Cutler! Come back! You can't leave me laying here, like this! The tide will come in, and wash me away forever! Who will be your friend, then? Hm?_

Cutler slowed down to a stop, knowing what Eddie was 'saying' was true. Eddie was his only friend, and he won't be able to live with himself if he had ever gone. Bloody hell! He turned right around, and stomped back, and scooped Eddie up, shaking the sand off of him.

_Easy, easy, easy! _

"I don't want to be 'easy'," Cutler mumbled, tucking Eddie under his arm, and marched away from him.

_You need a bath again..._

---

Was it a really a trunk, lying there on the beach? Cutler blinked his eyes and stumbled closer, keeping his balance from his drunken state. It was dusk, now, and he had been raiding the rum runner's storehouse again. Eddie was left by his 'house', next to an open bottle of rum Cutler had left for him.

It _was_ a trunk! Cutler let out a burst of laughter, as he drank up the last bit of rum in the bottle, tossed it aside, and began to drag the heavy trunk towards his 'house'. Bits of seaweed and kelp clung to the damp trunk as it was dragged through the sand by its thrilled finder.

"Eddie!" Cutler called. "Eddie! Look what I've found! A trunk! An actual trunk! With clothes and everything!" He laughed happily as he plopped his bottom down beneath a palm tree, and opened up the trunk. Clothes! Men's clothes! Men's clothes his size! Men's clothes his size that...

"Wait a minute..." Cutler murmured as he help up a familiar-looking green waistcoat. "These are _my_ clothes! Oh, my God, these are _my clothes_! What incredible luck!" He started laughing again, as he starting pulling out more things out of his trunk; one of his grand three-cornered hats, jackets, shirts, breeches, stockings, boots, shoes, slippers, underwear, a small mirror and a shaving blade. He peered into the little mirror at his face...

"Oh, my God!" he gasped with horror at the sight of the full light brown beard on his face, along with the matching mustache which grew along with it. "I now have a blade and a mirror! _My_ blade and mirror! What an extraordinary blessing, Eddie. I will soon return to the self I am comfortable with."

_...whatever that means._

_---_

The next morning, Cutler wanted to use his things again, now that he was sober enough to groom his hairy face. Cutler hesitantly took up his blade, and started to slowly and carefully remove the whiskers from his chin...

"OUCH!" He jumped from the sharp pain, dropping his blade, and touching the pained part of his face. There was a little blood on his hand, so he decided it was best to see exactly what he cut by looking into the mirror again.

It was a former mole that he had forgotten that existed. It was a small light-colored mole, which grew at the end of his round chin. Thankfully for Cutler's stupidity on the ins and outs of shaving, which was done for him by a servant as he read another passage from his favorite books, the tiny and unnoticeable flaw had been replaced by a red, bleeding dot.

_Ha, ha, Cutler! Well done! Let me ask you, did your servants always start at the end of your chinny, just to make you bleed?_

"You're a coconut, Eddie. You know nothing about shaving..." Cutler glanced back at his friend, who happened to be 'smirking' at him. "Although you look like you're in need of one yourself."

_No thank you. My scraggly visage defines me, just like your chin defines you. _

"Enough about my chin. I'm perfectly satisfied with it. Besides, you need to keep quiet so I can finish this..." he carefully raised his blade up to his cheekbone, and attempted to start shaving from there.

_Um...did I 'say' anything?_

---

Cutler Beckett was as happy as a gopher in soft dirt when he finished grooming and dressing himself. He wore a fresh change of breeches, stockings, a ruffled shirt, a cravat, his brown vest, and his 'new' wig atop his head after he successfully managed to cut his hair as short as he possibly could for it to fit.

_You look like you did when you arrived here! Don't you realize what sort of terrible memories I'll have?_

"How does the way I dress affect your memories?" Cutler sneered, smoothing his hands over his soft but stiff waistcoat.

Eddie didn't 'answer' him. Cutler rolled his eyes, and shook his head. "You stubborn little nut."

_Actually, I'm considered the second largest nut in the world._

Sighing with annoyance, as he plopped down in the sand next to his friend. "And what _is_ the largest nut in the world, Eddie, since you happen to be so smart?"

_You._


	6. Chapter 6

**Pathetically short, I know. I'll write more soon!**

**CAST AWAY - Part 1:**

The weeks stretched on into months...Cutler became more insane than ever. Now he understood Jack Sparrow's odd behavior the last time he saw him...

Cutler mumbled meaningless words to himself as he sorted seashells on the beach according to size and shape. Eddie was right beside him, nestled in the sand.

"This is bloody awful," Cutler sighed, sitting down on his backside, stretching his legs after several long minutes of squatting. "I hate living here. Not a single ship has passed by since I got here. Why?"

_Perhaps you smell so bad, that the sailors keep their ships far away from this island. _Eddie commented.

"Who cares?" Cutler sneered back. "I certainly don't care myself."

_Then why did you mention it, then?_

Cutler gave Eddie a quizzical look before gazing back at the water, flopping back onto his back, and emitting a loud groan.

--

Cutler Beckett had built himself a three-room house out of palm trees, palm leaves, grass, and mud. It looked rather nice, and was quite large. He used his brightly printed bedsheets that washed ashore for drapes, and a piece of the _Endeavor _as a door. In fact – it even had the first letter of the name of the ship in the center of the 'door' as well.

"At least I can bother making myself at home, shouldn't I," he thought aloud, which he had been doing for the longest time. "There is plenty of room and plenty of supplies, and my things keep washing ashore, so why the hell not?"

_Keep your chatter to yourself. I'm getting another headache again._

"I need more rum," Cutler sighed after he completed his makeshift table. A chair had washed ashore in one piece, as well as hundreds of pieces of wood. He made do with whatever he got.

Dusting off his hands, Cutler examined his 'main' room. With all of the wood and things that grew on the little island and everything that had washed ashore, he was very content about how nice everything looked.

There were several waist-high stands he made for his candles – which were empty rum bottles holding a candle (from his 'candle trunk' that washed ashore.), and out of the rocks from around the place he made a little fireplace. It wasn't very big, but he could fit his cooking pot inside it for a good fish-and-seaweed dinner.

Cutler walked into his 'bedroom' and sighed happily. Out of the wood he found he built his bed. He filled it with layers and layers of grass, seagull feathers, and palm leaves. Then he covered the sturdy but soft filling with a piece of heavy canvas from a torn sail, and put his bedsheets on and his pillow and blankets. He made his own nightstand, and simply dressed and groomed himself out of his nearby trunks.

Turning around, Cutler walked across the 'house' into the room on the other side. This was his storage room. It was built over the door into rum hold, which was now filled with things he found and food he dried and attempted to preserve.

_I have never imagined how self-sufficient I became to be. _He thought. _But instincts can still be retained after generations of my former life. I wonder what will become of me?_

With that sad thought on his mind, Cutler turned and headed outside. He walked towards the beach, and sat down in the sand. Looking up, he noticed how overcast it was. A storm was coming in...again. His little house lasted through three of them as he built it, so he wasn't worried. If it blew down, he will built it again. He had nothing to lose.

After a moment of sitting in his own misery, Cutler got up, scooped up Eddie on his way back into his house, and headed inside with his priceless coconut friend under his arm.

--

The storm passed. Just a strong breeze, some rain, and lightning. The rain was washed away from the palm leaf room he built, so he had few if any leaks to deal with. The lightning was fun to watch, and the breeze was chilly but refreshing.

_You like it here too much! _Eddie fussed. _You have so many chances of getting off this island, but you don't bother! Why is that?_

"I don't know..." Cutler answered. "It seems that my former life has ended and a new one has just begun."

_Oh, listen to yourself! You're depressed! I need a break from this, and I need a break from you. No offense, but remember the time we've met? You kicked me and skinned me for falling on your head!_

"Why don't you try getting blown up in your own ship by pirates?!" Cutler shouted back at him. "Then perhaps you would understand."

_Cutler?_

"What?!"

_Coconuts can't have ships._

"I know, but you are...you are..." Cutler blushed at what he was about to say.

_I am what?_

"You're my best and only friend I've ever had," he choked out, his eyes brimming with tears as he turned away to the window to watch the last of the lightning. It was hard for him to be honest, since he had never practiced honesty in his entire life. But Eddie always had a comeback for such truth.

_Do I get a prize for that?_


End file.
